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It’s Been Swell Five years ago Andrea Adelson, the Indy’s wonderful editor, said yes to an idea I had for a column about Laguna Beach. And so it was, Laguna Observed was born, and except for the yearly trips to the Midwest and Paris, I got to babble on about darling...

Reclaiming a Pageant Ritual Every year I’m taken by surprise that it’s that time of year again. This refers to any time of year commonly referred to as “that time of year,” like Christmas and the first day of school. The time of year I refer to now is...

Lessons in Paying Attention Okay, I learned something new last Sunday. I learned the difference between chamber music and baroque. You probably already know. Well, I was raised by an amateur opera singer, so you think I’d have known too. But I didn’t, and thus, I went...

Discovering a Treasure Trove I went to the Woman’s Club Art Fair last Sunday…and spent money. I hadn’t wanted to spend. I hadn’t expected to spend. To that end, I only had two dollars in my wallet. But I did have my checkbook. I don’t usually carry my checkbook. The only reason I...

Seeing the Murphy-Smith Bungalow Going out of town gets everything off base for me— I missed a talk in Laguna given by the oldest man to summit Everest, but I caught up with him at Costa Mesa’s Historical Society. He was only 67, this oldest man to summit Everest, a...

Surrounding The Art I’m a lucky woman. I have artists in my life who are also my friends. The kind of friends to whom I can whine about my life, and look ratty, and say the wrong thing, and they still meet up with me at Zinc. They come to my house at Thanksgiving. They...

By Ruth Yunker Christmas Eve has come to Laguna Beach yet once again. I’m remembering a Christmas Eve in 1983. I’d just moved with my children back here from Baltimore. It was my daughter’s first California Christmas. She was three and a half and she was...

We’ll Always Love Santa Last Friday, Hospitality Night came to Laguna yet once again. I am always amazed at how fast Christmas comes round again. And I wouldn’t have it any other way! So there we were, every citizen living in Laguna, especially those with children...

Resolutions 2010 Of course you don’t make New Year’s resolutions. I’m certainly not accusing you of such a thing. No sophisticated, grounded, pragmatic or even dreamer person over the age of 12 makes New Year’s resolutions. Preposterous. Nor am I about to...